Crop residue burning in Indian Punjab emits particulate matter with detrimental impacts on health, climate and that threaten agricultural production. Though legal and technological barriers to residue burning exist – and alternatives considered more profitable to farmers – residue burning continues. Authors review black carbon (BC) emissions from residue burning in Punjab, analyse social-ecologica...

Crop Residue Burning (CRB) is a major contributor to air pollution in the Indo-Gangetic Plain (IGP) region during winter months, particularly in October and November. Satellite-based active fire counts and burnt area are two widely used remote sensing metrics to monitor CRB. However, these methods have some limitations. Coarser spatial and temporal resolutions, as well as obstructions due to smoke...

The Union government released the latest version of the Crop Residue Management Operational Guidelines in March 2024 to promote better stubble management, especially in the states of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi. The government has been periodically updating these guidelines since they were first introduced after the launch of th...

India is projected to be the fastest-growing bioenergy market in the world between 2023 and 2030, accounting for 35 per cent of the global demand (Moorhouse and Báscones 2025). India has already set several blending targets—like 5 per cent compressed biogas blending requirement by 2028–29, 7 per cent of biomass cofiring in power plants by 2026, 20 per cent ethanol by 2025–26 and 5 per cent biodies...

Indian rice straw residues can be made into profitable resources with the required infrastructure investments.Agricultural waste burning is one of the world largest sources of seasonal air pollution. In India’s Punjab province, 15.4 million tonnes of rice straw are burnt after each crop harvest. Globally around 450 million tonnes of crop residues are burnt each year resulting in 1.2 million tonnes...

Stubble burning has met its answer, and it’s microbial. A cocktail of seven fungi developed by scientists from the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) in New Delhi provide a welcome alternative to the stubble burning that happens every year after harvest. Farmers burn the leftover stacks to clear the soil and fight pests and weeds, but the practice can contribute up to 40% of local pollu...

ASEAN Member States (AMS) encourage to adopt sustainable agricultural practices that preserve soil health and enhance long-term food security. Comprising a comprehensive strategy for AMS, the ASEAN Guidelines on Crop Burning Reduction can serve as a guidance document for sustainable agricultural practices that offer a clear path forward for achieving a carbon neutral future.The ASEAN Guidelines em...

Rapid economic progress in Viet Nam has been accompanied by a huge increase in consumption and, as a result, waste – particularly plastic waste. It is estimated that Viet Nam’s post-consumer plastic waste will rise by 36% from 2018 levels by the year 2030.1 Despite major commitments from the government, business and civil society, plastic waste leakage into the country’s water bodies is expected t...

This Handbook is for organizations who are currently working with, or plan to work with, women entrepreneurs to produce or support the design of household energy technologies, or who will engage women as sales agents or entrepreneurs in rural or urban locations to market, distribute, and/or provide after-sales service of household energy technologies. The Empowered Entrepreneur Training Handbook p...

The Best Practices for Solid Waste Management: A Guide for Decision-Makers in Developing Countries (Guide) is focused on best practices for solid waste management in medium and large urban centers in developing countries (generally referred to as “cities” in the Guide), because they face the most substantial solid waste management challenges.Given their waste generation projections, these challeng...